Convergence of K-12 and Higher Education

In The Convergence of K12 and Higher Education, two leading scholars of education policy bring together a distinguished and varied array of contributors to systematically examine the growing convergence between the K12 and higher education sectors in the United States. Though the two sectors have traditionally been treated as distinct and separate, the editors show that the past decade has seen an increasing emphasis on the alignment between the two. At the same time, the national focus on outcomes and accountability, originating in the K12 sector, is exerting growing pressure on higher education, while trends toward privatization and diversificationlong characteristic of the postsecondary sectorare influencing public schools. This volume makes the powerful case that it is no longer possible to think of one sector in the absence of the other, given the economic, demographic, and technological forces that are pushing the educational system toward convergence. Taken together, the chapters in this book provide a promising new line of inquiry for examining contemporary questions in education policy.